Turning Tables
by PheobeHall456
Summary: Set after 5X10. Blair wakes up in the hospital. Her first thought is of Chuck. There's no telling what could happen, because all bets are off. There is plotting, there is revenge, and in the midst of chaos, sweet love. But before love must come life.
1. Gone

**A/N: This whole thing is set after episode 10 of Season 5, after the car wreck, and beginning in the hospital. I'm going off of the spoilers out there, and taking major creative license. This is a Chair story, it's going to be heartbreaking, it's going to be dramatic, and it's going to have tasteful smut. I hope you're ready.**

******BPOV**

Black. That's all I could see. A neverending pool of black. I couldn't tell which way was up; there was no gravity where I was. I had never in my life felt so completely alone. The absence of light and sound was enough to make me crazy. I was freaking out, and I tried to scream, but I couldn't even move. Not a sound. I couldn't tell the passage of time, time was nonexistant. So I couldn't tell you how long I was trapped before I realized where my body was. I felt my hands at my sides first. I tried to lift my right hand, just an inch...but nothing happened. It was like I was being held down by something, but there was no touch. Everything was cold, I was so cold. I wanted to shiver so badly, but I couldn't even do that. Then the feeling of having a mouth came back. I tried to move that, too, but I couldn't. Then I noticed that there was something in it. In between my teeth. I focused on it, tracing the feeling down...into my mouth...down my throat...Then I realized air was being forced into my lungs. I tried to swallow, but I couldn't. I knew it would hurt, this foreign object. I felt my face, and the sticky residue on either side of my mouth. Tape. That was the word. It had to be tape.

And that's when it happened. It was like a lightning bolt was shot straight through me. I felt everything. Every inch of skin and bone. Every single pain. I wanted to cry out, and I couldn't. But then I remembered, and suddenly that pain was nothing. Nothing compared to the pain that was shot straight through my heart. Chuck.

My heart started pounding, racing. I could hear, but that didn't matter. Beeps were sounding all around me, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Chuck. He had to be gone. He wouldn't have left me alone. He wouldn't have left me alone in the dark. He couldn't be gone, but I knew he was. Otherwise my hand would not be empty, his would be in mine. He wasn't here. I thought I had just got him back, I thought I knew what I wanted...I never wanted to feel this; the feeling of having everything I ever wanted ripped out of my arms.

I started to hear voices, frantic voices. I couldn't care. I wanted to open my mouth, to speak, to tell them to just stop, please stop, I don't want to be here anymore, just please let me go quietly. But I couldn't. I had no control over my own body. I was being held down by some invisible force. Trapped inside my own mind, forced to endure the pain of my heart in silence when all i really wanted to do was scream at them to stop trying to save me, there's nothing left of me to save.

Cold hands were prodding on me, I felt myself being jostled. Hands came down on my wrists and ankles. I felt something small stab my arm, and a warm fluid passing into me. It felt nice to feel warmth. I was still freezing. And then I realized that it wasn't the hands jostling me. I was moving on my own, and I couldn't stop. I was twitching. Seizure, that's what they would call it. I would call it nothing more than my body's way of telling them to just let me go. Why couldn't they just give up? Why not just let me go? It's not like there's anything left for me. Why would they torture me by trying to bring me back?

As suddenly as it started, it all stopped. My body fell back into a restful position, and the hands came off of my ankles and wrists. It hurt where they had been holding down. I realized there had been something sticking into the back of my hand the entire time. As soon as I realized it, a warm fluid came through me, starting at that spot and quickly rushing throughout my body. It was a relief and a curse at the same time. I was no longer cold, but it brought the pain of my body to the surface. I tried to focus on the pains throughout my body. I couldn't think about the pain in my chest, the one that wouldn't go away, the one that never would go away unless they just let me go. I started at my toes and worked up. There was a stiffness all around my right leg. Something holding it straight. it ran from my back down to my knee. I located the pain. It was mostly in my bone, but it was also in my hip. Two different kinds of pain, a dull throb coming from my hip, and a sharp pain coming from the middle of my thigh. I worked my way up again. I got to my arms before I felt any major pain again. This was at my arm, near my wrist. On my left side, my arm felt like it had been broken in two. Broken. Broken bone? I wouldn't know until I tried to move, until I could see. My head. I could feel my head, and I could feel something painful in my left temple. I felt the tape again. There must be some kind of bandage. Blood. That means blood.

Chuck wouldn't feel pain again.

I couldn't feel anything anymore. The pain in my heart was too much. But I fought. For some reason, I fought. I focused on my eyes. There...a little light. I got the light to get brighter. All of a sudden, I opened them wide, and there was a ceiling above me. A white ceiling. A face blocked my view. I didn't recognize it. I didn't try and listen to what the man said. I just tried to say one single word.

It was muffled, I'm not sure if anyone heard at all. If they would have taken the tube out of my throat, I would have been able to speak. But there was a look on the man's face that told me he knew what I was saying before everything faded to black again, and all feeling was gone.

"Chuck."


	2. Awake

**A/N: Yay! Kudos to my first (and unfortunately, my ONLY) reviewer, bfan. Hopefully this next chapter will turn out more reviews. I won't write just for reviews, but reviews help motivate me, because it helps me know if what I wrote previously was any good and if not, what it is that I need to change. So please take the time to tell me your honest opinion, and I'd greatly appreciate it. Onward, and upward!  
**

**BPOV**

This time, the rise to the surface didn't take quite so long, or as long as it had seemed the first time. It was different, too, like slowly waking up after a long nap. As soon as a reached my full consciousness, I opened my eyes. They opened with no difficulty at all, as there had been before. However, I had to quickly shut them. The light was too bright. But I tried again, and again. It took a while for my eyes to get used to the unnatural brightness. Finally, I was able to keep my eyes open, and I looked around. The first thing I saw was the tube coming out of my mouth, it was hooked up to a breathing machine. I watched as the mechanisim went up and down, and I realized I was able to trigger it on my own. As soon as I realized this, a slow beeping sounded. I figured it was connected to the nurses' desk and, sure enough, three people came into the room. I didn't recognize any of them. One was obviously a doctor, dressed in the traditional white jacket and such. Two nurses dressed in pale pink had followed.

"Blair? Blair Waldorf?" The doctor asked. His voice was husky, he was older, maybe in his forties. I nodded, not bothering to try to speak with the tube in my throat. "Ms. Waldorf, you are breathing on your own now, you're fighting the machine. We're going to take that tube out of your throat now, okay?" I nodded again as a nurse stepped forward. She unhooked the large hose from the one coming out of my mouth and went to turn off the machine. The doctor then slowly peeled away the tape from my mouth. "I want you to take a deep breath, and then blow out when I say, okay?" I nodded again, and inhaled. "Now, blow out," he said, and I did. As I did, the tube came up, and I felt the pain it left behind. I gagged as he pulled it up out of my mouth, but I turned away from the basin the second nurse was holding out to me. I was able to cough several times, and I could tell talking would be a challenge, but it was one I was willing to take...one I had to take...one I was almost too scared to take. But I had to know.

"Chuck," I breathed.

The doctor's face turned serious, and he began to speak. I was already tensed for it, waiting to hear... "Mr. Bass suffered very severe injuries, worse than yourself. The reason he did is because he had apparently seen the crash coming a split second before it happened and threw himself across you to shield you." As he said this, my mind unwillingly flashed back in time. I had been looking at my hands in my lap, thinking of what I had to be able to say...I couldn't face anyone without a planned speech, not with something like this...and then Chuck's voice, laced with terror and fear..."Blair!"...I was thrown back in the seat...and then suddenly jerked forward, and to the side...and then, nothing...

"I...remember..." I tried to say. I could croak, my voice breaking in several places.

"That's good, with a head injury, we were worried about amnesia," he said. "Mr. Bass not only saved your life, but he saved your baby. Had he not thrown himself into you, the tree branch that came through the car would have gone straight through to your spine. As it is, it only gave Mr. Bass a severe cut across his side. That took fifteen stitches for us to seal." I couldn't understand why he couldn't just get on with it and tell me what I already knew. Why was he prolonging the torture? "His shoulder, however...A metal bar also came through the car, and it went through his shoulder, thankfully stopping before it shattered the shoulderblade. But it was a serious injury, and so close to the heart."

He was taking too long. "Get it over with, then. Tell me he's dead. Tell me he's gone." My voice was steady except for the creakiness caused by the soreness from the tube. A single tear fell from my eye and landed on the pillow.

But the doctor shook his head. "Ms. Waldorf...Mr. Bass is alive. He is in critical condition, but we do believe that he will make a recovery. It is true that while we were trying to repair the damage to his shoulder, his heart had stopped, but we were able to revive him. He is still in a coma, but we are hoping once the sedation drugs wear off, he will wake up soon after. He will be in pain, and he will have to be on pain medication for a long time, as well as some physical therapy once he leaves the hospital, and all of us expect him to make a full recovery. He is in critical condition solely because of the trouble we had with him, and we're waiting to make sure his heart won't suddenly stop again. We're not out of the woods yet, but he's close, and progress has been made."

"Can...can I see him?" I asked timidly.

"Yes, I could actually arrange to have him transferred in here with you." He nodded to one of the nurses, who left. "I'd like to discuss your injuries with you, Ms. Waldorf." I hoped he would hurry. I didn't care about myself. I just had to see Chuck, to know that he really was alive...I couldn't let myself feel anything until I was sure. "The injuries you sustained were not as severe as Mr. Bass, but you did sustain several injuries. Your right leg has a hairline fracture, and is in a cast. Your hip was out of place, and we had to place it back, which is why we don't want you walking for at least a few days. One of the bones in your arm is broken, and there is a cast and a sling on until it is healed. Ad far as your head, it's a huge relief to hear that the injury is minor. You had a seizure, and we found that you had a concussion. We were very concerned about memory loss, and it's good that you are cohearant. It is possible that you could have some minor memory loss and in that case we would have to be a little concerned, but at this point, you're well on the road to a full and quick recovery. Your baby, like I had said before, is perfectly fine. You are at 16 weeks, I believe, and I'd like to schedule an ultrasound tech to come in later and take a look just to be sure, but I really don't think there's anything to worry about." He smiled. ""You're going to be just fine, Ms. Waldorf. Are there any questions you have?"

"No...I don't think so..."

"Well, if you do, just press the red button on the remote next to you, and someone will be in. I know that your mother and father have been in and out of here, and until you give permission they are the only ones allowed in the room, those are the rules on this floor. when you get moved downstairs, you'll be able to have anyone visit." I thought for a moment...I felt a twinge of guilt at not caring if Louis came to visit, but I just couldn't handle anyone other than my parents right now. I'd have to face him at some point, and I knew it was cowardly of me, but I didn't want to, not when I was so concerned about Chuck. I nodded, and the doctor left.

I leaned back into the pillow and closed my eyes. I could feel a sigh of relief within me, but I refused to let it out until I saw for myself. I had lost myself in thought when I heard noises in the doorway again. My eyes shot open, and I almost wish that I hadn't looked, but I couldn't look away. "Chuck!" I gasped.

He looked horrible. His skin was so pale. He was hooked up to a ventilator as I had been, and it was steadily pumping away. They wheeled his bed next to mine, and I beckoned to them to bring it closer to where they our beds were almost touching. My hand shot out to take his, it was cold and limp, and I wrapped it in mine.

I could breathe again. I heard the machine, I heard his heartbeat, heard his breathing. I was complete again. I was whole. There was nothing else. Just him.

I don't know how long I sat there looking at him, holding his hand. When a beeping sounded, it broke my reverie, and I realized the room had darkened, the sky outside the window was black. A nurse came rushing in with an unfamiliar doctor. I didn't pay attention to what they were saying, I already guessed. They began to detatch the ventilator and proceeded to pull the tube from his throat. He was breathing on his own. His eyes were still closed.

I took a chance. "Chuck. Chuck, it's me. It's Blair. Come back to me, please." I was crying again, but I couldn't care. Because what I heard next was the sweetest sound I could have heard.

"Blair."


End file.
